Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

MB, did you ever see the post-it that one of the staff had put next to a photo of TLATKLS? It read: Will not sign this.

Hmm, I don't think so. But then I wouldn't have seen it if it was a photo for the series rather than hoDS because I only looked at their stuff from the films.

Why would KLS have refused to sign it? Was it that bad a photo? Did it bring up bad memories? Did she try to prevent it from ever being printed but they went ahead and printed it anyway for some reason. One can't help but wonder about her reasoning...

[Uncle Roger]

If I remember correctly, it was a candid photo which she didn't find particularly flattering. Possibly pre nose job.

I have heard stories of fans bringing her photos that she didn't care for (not necessarily the one in question) that she didn't care for. She would offer them a photo from her table in exchange and she would trash the offensive picture.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And more rare material to revisit from Scene 227, starting with this -

(Click here for a 1000X772 version)
DS Movie Book caption: "Night: Deleted basement scene with
Quentin (David Selby), Tracy (Kate
Jackson) and Claire (Nancy Barrett)."

- which so far as I'm aware has only been published in a tiny version in The DS Movie Book (and it along with yesterday's are more of the ones that I bought at Ohlinger's back in 1996) - and this -

(Click here for a 874X650 version)
Daytime TV caption reads: "Quentin and Claire (Nancy Barrett) try to
comfort Tracy after Angelique's attempt
to kill her. Claire is wed to Alex (John Karlen)."

- which, as you've probably deduced from the caption, appeared as part of Daytime TV's NoDS article - and this -

(Click here for a 700X562 version)

- which appeared as part of the Fest's 2012 NY Weekend Program book.

(Note that David Selby and Nancy Barrett are wearing coats in the middle one. Also note that the candles are lit when they're not wearing coats. I've always presumed the coat photos were taken during rehearsal and the non-coat photos during actual production and that's why the candles aren't lit in the former. But what's interesting about that is the candles are lit in still #22 (seen most recently back in Reply #1960 and Reply #1963) when Selby is wearing his coat...)

And this time you'll no doubt recall that the top still is #24 in the NoDS Portfolio. The other two are the other alternatives that I referred to yesterday.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 228 is scripted:

...

228    THE BRICK WALL - QUENTIN'S P.O.V.                 228        BACK TO SCENE        as they help the still-crying Tracy to her feet,        Quentin crosses to the brick wall and stands looking        at it.  He thinks for a moment, then turns to them.                              QUENTIN                  That's it!        Alex looks at him.

And that's when yesterday's quote -

Page 105/Scene 228 - Quentin: 'The brick! That was the sound! The sound of brick being laid.'

comes up...

...

  And so far as "yesterday's quote" goes, it was July 7th this time around.

 

[Uncle Roger]

I was somewhat surprised to learn that Jerry Ohlinger's is still in business, especially after Ohlinger passed away in 2018. The store is open Monday through Friday from 2pm to 6pm. Mornings and weekends by appointment only.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And I checked their inventory and apparently they still have quite a bit of NoDS material. Posters, stills and the Pressbook.

(They also have hoDS material. In fact, they have a 3 sheet hoDS A Poster - for $500...)

[Uncle Roger]

The DS tv show books contained a fair amount of festival photos. As well as more publicity stills of Clarice Blackburn as Abigail than I ever dreamed existed 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting info regard Scenes 225 through 228:

With regard to the full version of Scene 225 and Scenes 226 through 228, Darren Gross posted on his Restoration Web site -

A selection of scenes cut from the 129-minute version that have been recovered:

...

Alex helps Quentin force the basement door open which banishes Angelique's ghost and saves Tracy. Claire enters and tells them that the ghost that attacked Tracy was the same one that attacked Alex earlier in the cottage. Quentin finds a brick wall where a door should be and realizes that Angelique and Charles Collins are buried behind it.

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 229 is scripted:

...

CUT TO: 229    INT - SMALL ROOM - NIGHT                          229        as Alex and Quentin have just about finished ripping        out the brick wall, the large iron door is revealed.        Quentin grabs the rusted bolt and unlocks it.        INT - ROUND BURIAL ROOM - NIGHT        as the door opens and light streams in, Quentin and        Alex stand in silhouette in the doorway.        THE ROOM - THEIR P.O.V.        The light of their candelabras reveal an aged pine        coffin covered with cobwebs and dust.  As they ENTER        THE SHOT and cross to it, they suddenly see the        skeletal remains of Charles Collins.  In the B.G.,        the girls appear at the doorway.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 106/Scene 229 - Quentin: 'So this is why Laura was laughing at the funeral. They were burying an empty coffin.'

comes up.

End of scene and end of sequence. And the sad thing is, even though Scene 228 was recovered with the 129 minute version of the film, Scene 229 was not. And again, sort of similar to how the rewrite of Scene 218 drops all reference to Quentin having trouble breathing on the night of his dream even though a big thing is made of that in Scene 103, it's odd that Scene 52 makes a point of having Gerard do brickwork so that Quentin will have the sound of it in the back of his memory, yet because all future references seemingly save for Quentin suddenly putting 2 and 2 together (even though we have no idea that he's been trying to place a sound because Scene 218 is not in the film and may not have even been shot) it makes Quentin's eureka moment come from out of nowhere. Not to mention that Scene 229's revelation of the discovery of Angelique's and Charles' remains would certainly seem like a major plot payoff. But apparently not to DC. And as we know only too well, ours is not to fathom DC's thinking. Instead of how things were scripted to build up, we simply get Quentin delivering the scripted "The brick! That was the sound! The sound of brick being laid", presumably along with "Charles Collins is in there!", which DC added to his script.

...

  And as far as "today's quote" goes, it was July 8th this time around.

And I've mentioned this before, but I actually think it's better that Quentin's quoted line from Scene 229 isn't in the film, even though I feel it's a shame Scene 229 isn't in the film. Back when we've dealt with Angelique's funeral, I've said that after I'd seen NoDS for a second time, I was certain that Laura was laughing at the funeral because Rev. Strack characterized Angelique as Laura's "loyal and loving sister-in-law" and Angelique had been anything but. And as I'd also mentioned back then, when I finally got my hands on a copy of the script back in the early '90s (through the generosity of a good friend), I was honestly quite surprised that the script has the explanation that Laura was laughing because they were burying an empty coffin. And I suppose I can see the humor in that explanation, but I still like my interpretation because it's humorous in an Oh-My-God-You've-Got-To-Be-Kidding sort of way. And considering that Scene 229 doesn't appear in any version of the film, the reason for Laura's laughter is still left up to interpretation. In fact, in the current version of the film, many things are left up to interpretation, with another example coming up fairly soon...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting this related to Scenes 228/229:

And when I'd put together the graphic for Thursday -

- I'd used a crop of this rare still -

(Click here for a 700X541 version)
DS Movie Book caption: "Night: Alex (John Karlen) and Quentin
(David Selby) break into Charles' basement
tomb in deleted scene."

- from the lamentedly missing Scene 229 and which so far as I'm aware has only been published in a tiny version in The DS Movie Book...

...

   And "the graphic for Thursday" refers to Thursday, July 7th.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting the graphic for July 8th and the still used to create it:

And when I'd put together this graphic -

...

- I'd used a rare print of a not so rare still (though I eliminated Quentin's legs) -

 - a still that has been published so many times (in its print form on the right) that I'm not even going to list them, though here are a few captions:

TV Dawn to Dusk's CATCHING UP WITH...The Dark Shadows Cast caption reads: "Quentin (David Selby) finds the
skeleton of his former self, Charles Collins."

Original Motion Picture Sountracks booklet's caption reads: "Night Of Dark Shadows:
David Selby as Quentin Collins
in a deleted scene."

The Famous Monsters of Filmland caption reads: "Wouldn't you be scared out of your skin if you came upon your own skeleton from a previous life? Well,
that's the predicament Quentin is in as he discovers the mortal remains of himself when, in a past
existence, he was known as Charles Collins."

...

...

I've mentioned this in the past because the funny thing is I don't remember how/where I came across the version of the still that shows more of the skeleton's legs. All I seem to have of it is the version that I posted back in 2022 - I have no idea where the original is - and believe me, I've looked. It's very strange.

But be that as it may, you'll no doubt recall that the shorter version on the right is #25 in the NoDS Editor's Portfoilio, which is no doubt why it's the version that has been published so many times.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And speaking of the stll of Quentin with Charles' skeleton, now is a good time to revisit this still -

(Click here for a 548X700 version)

- which is #2 in the NoDS Editor's Portfolio and of which in the past there has been speculation that it was Angelique's skeleton even though no such shots of her skeleton appear in the film. Well, back in 2016 Darren completely cleared up the matter:

...

The shot of the skeleton hanging from the tree was just on-set goofing around. I have the contact sheets from this shoot, and it's not supposed to be Angelique- it's Charles's skeleton and is dressed in his rotted shirt- that's why there's that shot of Selby standing next to it, as it's his character.  They were shooting publicity shots of Selby, and the crew just ties a rope to the skeleton and pulls it up off the ground to get the shots with Selby, then afterwards a few shots of it by itself in the tree.  I was thrilled to find that contact sheet, as it always appeared to be some shot of Angelique's body rotted to nothing and hanging there, and intriguing, but impossible scene to match to any of the scripts.

...

And here are two shots of David Selby with the skeleton:

The first one -

(Click here for a 1000X1332 version)

- which appears on page 141 of the DS Almanac 30th Anniversary Tribute (and that version shows a bit more than the copy of the still that I have) - and then there's this rare one -

(Click here for a 1000X1522 version)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Highlighting how several of the recent stills are used in the Italian Lobby Cards:

You may recall that Still #25 in the NoDS Editor's Portfolio was used as part of this one (which also features Stills #17 & #42) -

- though of course the colorization is completely wrong, but so what else is new - and another one features Still #22 in the portfolio -

- (which also features Stills #16 & #42) - and one that's a trifecta of recent stills is this one -

which features NoDS Editor's Portfolio Stills #26, #40 and #34 (as well as #42).

Apparently with these they loved having Quentin in red hues, even when in that last one they also have him in the correct denim blue. But then obviously they didn't care if colors were correct or conflicting, they simply wanted them to look colorful rather than B&W...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting more rare material from Scene 229:

... starting with this -

- which appears as part of the Herald featured in the NoDS PressBook. I've always assumed that still is from Scene 229 and not Scenes 221 - 223, but we all know what they say about assuming. And if it is from the latter scenes, obviously I can't really say:

It's interesting to me that there are several stills of Quentin and Tracy from this sequence down in the basement, and there's this one of Tracy solo, but I've never come across any of Quentin solo.

But until such time as I discover otherwise, I'm going to continue to assume it comes from Scene 229. Though if I ever come across a numbered print of that still, which is something I've never seen, that could be a good clue as to which scene it may be from...

And then there's this behind the scenes still that Darren Gross shared on his NoDS Restoration Web site, and once again I'm sharing the caption as Darren wrote it -

Cinematographer Richard Shore, A.S.C. takes a light reading for the scene
where Quentin and Alex uncover Charles Collins' skeleton lying atop
Angelique's pine-wood coffin. (Photo courtesy Richard Shore.)

- and a tiny version of a different version appears in The DS Movie Book -

Night: Richard Shore positions skeleton.

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 230 is scripted:

And now we begin to set up the seance sequence:

230    INT - GALLERY - NIGHT - HIGH ANGLE                230        The four sit around a table set near the windows.        The room is lit by a single candelabra on the table.        Quentin sits in the most comfortable chair.  Tracy        is at his left, Claire at his right.  Alex is across        from him.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 106/Scene 230 - Quentin: 'I'm not sure I know what to do.'

comes up, followed by today's second quote -

Page 106/Scene 230 - Alex: 'Just do as we told you. If Angelique appears for anyone, it'll be you.'

coming up, followed in the script by:

Quentin looks around the room. They all begin to concentrate.

  And as far as "today's" quotes go, they were July 9th this time around.

Picking up Scene 230 where we left off ...

GROUP - TRUCKING SHOT        During the following, CAMERA TRUCKS AROUND THE TABLE.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 106/Scene 230 - Quentin: 'Is there anyone in this house who wishes to speak with us?...who has anything to say to us? We are here to listen to you...the psychic door is open for you to enter.'

comes up...

...

  And as far as "today's quote" goes, it was July 10th this time around.